Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Ribs And Chicken Combo At RG's BBQ Grill

The chicken may cost a few dollars more at RG's BBQ Grill than your supermarket rotisserie display, but you should check the Laurel joint for takeout because you get their sauce as part of the deal.

Takeout can be an important tool when we don't have time to cook, but I try to take out wisely because it can get pricey fast. My newest find has been been the chicken-and-ribs platter from RG'S BBQ Grill in Laurel because it's easily three or four meals if you extend it out.

RG's looks like a shack on U.S. 1, but its kitchen tastes like it has ambition. They make their own sauces, their own pickles, some absolutely delicious sides like greens, beans, and corn bread. I have already raved about a special like the lamb, but the basics shine just as well.

For about $20, I buy a half chicken and half rack of ribs. They're both moist, flavorful meat coated in RG's zesty sauce. While I wait, I fill up two or three more small containers of the sauce. I split between mild and medium. The medium is zesty enough that I have left the spicy sauce to the true heat seekers.

Either way, the platter delivers. The first meal is easy because you get two side dishes. So dine down on greens, corn bread and maybe most of the ribs. Then cut up the chicken to pack for lunch. We get two big lunches if I package chicken with some other leftovers -- a little rice or vegetables, maybe just some cut up vegetables.

A little leftover can even be extended into a fourth meal. Maybe the risotto with rib meat like I made from Gourmet Griller's earlier this winter. Maybe a barbecued chicken salad sandwich if I reserve a few ounces of the breast meat.

I have options because RG's BBQ Grill does such a good job. It is worth a stop and few extra dollars because that meat blows away anything you could grab off the heat trays at a supermarket. The sauce is my favorite around, and you can just taste the complexity and the care that they put into it. It's so good that I need to quote Todd Kliman so that I don't just plagiarize him:

[T]he sauce is a pitch-perfect balance of tanginess, sweetness and heat. That sauce is so addicting, you probably will end up forgiving the drier patches of an otherwise tasty smoked chicken and want to either pour it over everything else or even, as my friend said, drink it plain.

This is restaurant food that you're just lucky enough to take home in clamshell tray. You can take home the ribs and chicken and make them your own.

RG"s BBQ Grill has tables so you can eat there. It's counter service. Very casual, very friendly. Any other great takeout that you recommend? I'm in the market for weeknight help.

I've been thinking of trying it because there is a Groupon deal, but many reviews I have seen say to pass. Stll undecided. Given the price, not something I can swing for without overwhelming positive reviews.

It seems not matter what barbecue joint is in that building , consistency lacks. Always love or hate reviews. Just went there the other day for lunch and my sandwich , pork, was good , while my lunchmates pit beef left a lot to be desired. Maybe the dinner entrees are more consistent.

I think BBQ in particular is one of those foods where the diners taste will vary widely from person to person. If I have it right Mrs. HowChow like fall off the bone ribs while others don't want the meat to fall off the bone. Some like a sweet sauce, but I like it with a little kick. Dry rubs, mustard sauce, charcoal, gas, hickory, mesquite and I could go on and on with all the different variations of BBQ. More than any other reviews I read on Chowhound or other sites BBQ reviewers will grade all over the place based on personal tastes.

On another note, I usually eat my Groupon deals anywhere they want if they give me two dollars to spend for the price of one. Seems a little silly to get upset about that, but to each his own I guess.